There was a lot of talk during the Biden Administration about runaway inflation – and well as catering to the Unions. However, what we experienced during those years wasn’t actually “inflation,” but rather public policy choices that favored unions and raised prices. Now, some Republicans are supporting policies that would again favor unions and again raise prices. It is a turn of events that makes even the most jaded DC veteran question what has happened to modern politics.
For Biden, a lifelong liberal and government employee that grew up in a union-adjacent household, supporting unions made sense. His polices might not have worked, they might not have been rational, and they definitely catered to the unions, but they made sense from Biden’s point of view.
However, for Republicans, who have long campaigned to limit the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy, switching over to support big government regulations in already over regulated industries is a 180-degree turn.
For instance, the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Bill – in particular the rail portion of the bill – could be used as a vehicle to increase regulations, boost union employment, and raise prices. Some Republicans want to add language from the Railway Safety Act (RSA) into the reauthorization bill. The RSA was written in response to the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine which, while a horrific tragedy, would not have been prevented by anything in the RSA. In fact, many dismissed the bill at the time as nothing more than an attempt by legislators to appear like they were doing something.
Like Biden’s support of irrational public policy – this empty gesture would have at least made sense. But, when Republicans start pushing for this kind of legislation, it moves past a mere gesture towards a genuine embrace of Biden-era public policy.
One of the primary objections to the inclusion of the RSA is its “two-man” rule, which is most easily summarized as a “hire more union employees” provision. A two-man provision might sound good on its face, but if two men are better than one, why not require three, four, or five extra employees? The fact is that crew sizes have been studied, the results of these studies have been known for years, and the data did not prove that larger crews result in better outcomes. We can only conclude, therefore, that unions want to use the law to force companies to hire more of their employees, and that Republican are volunteering to help them.
These decisions have real effects. An inability to adjust operating models over time means higher costs for transportation, which means higher costs in retail stores. It could also mean more trucks on the road – which raises both costs and safety concerns.
Trains aren’t the answer for everything, and we don’t need a public policy system that picks winner and losers. Public policy that actively burdens one industry has multiple effects that legislators should consider.
The decision to deregulate transportation is one that helped build our modern economy. This decision came from one of the most liberal presidents of the modern era – Jimmy Carter. Watching some members of the Republican party drive public policy in the other direction is not only disheartening, but deeply troubling given that these policies will raise prices in exactly the same way that President Biden’s administration did.
